The Name Game

It must suck to be a celebrity kid. You get saddled with the most god awful names. Now normal people give their kids names like Dan, Mike, Sara, and Jennifer. But apparently that is just too bland for celebs. I guess their kids need names that prove they are unique and privileged...

Apple Martini it used to be my favorite drink. Apprently it is Gwenyth's too!

And poor Chastity Bono. Not only did she have to live down her mother's exploits in real life and in drag queen renditions, but she had to do it while saddled with the name Chastity. That is just place rude! I wonder if that is why she is gay?

And what is the deal with all the city named kids? Paris Hilton, Brooklyn Beckham, Ireland Baldwin. Are they all named after places they were conceived? Talk about ew! No kid should be forced to think about such things on a daily basis. Interestingly a lot of kids are also named after months, August seems particularly popular. But I'll believe it when someone names their kid October.

Richard Gere has got to be one of the worst offenders in the name game. I am not sure if he is just clueless or truly has a mean streak. Homer James Jigme Gere. Now apparently, the poor sucker is named after his grandfather, but honestly when I hear the name Homer all I think off is a fat, loutish, yellow, beer guzzling cartoon character.

Got any other particularly bad names to share?

Sex, Lies, and Money

So what is worse? Sleeping with a moderately pudgy, clingy, twenty-something in the Oval Office? Or getting your groove on with an moderately pudgy, graying, forty-something at the World Bank? Two seats of power. Two very different men, and two very different mistresses. Which is worse? Aesthetically neither couple seems particularly pleasing - Bill and Monica. The blue dress? Yuck! Wolfie and Shaha - I think I vomited in my mouth. I also think according to Bill's technical definition, they may actually have had "s-e-x".

I am not sure what Bush means when he says Wolfie acted in "good faith" regarding his companion. Is that "good faith" like the "good faith" Bush had in WMD in Iraq? or the "good faith" when he at Putin gazed lovingly into each other's eyes? And since when does someone's mistress get to be called a companion? Monica was never spared the ignominy. Why should Shaha be?

Random aside: I wonder if Shaha if of two minds about this though. Remember how Jennifer got mad when Angelina called her Brad's best friend in her Vanity Fair interview. As if Brad somehow viewed Jen as, I guess, asexual. Well talk about choosing a sanitized word. Companion brings up images of old women, spinsters, and chaperons. While they have all but admitted to gettin' it on, the word companion helps us forget.

Anyway, back to the 50% salary bump for his consort? Not even Monica got that and she let the leader of the free world score. All expenses paid trips to Iraq? Now I for one would have preferred Bora Bora, but you know those neo-con types, they'd probably prefer Tora Bora. While I don't begrudge Wolfie and Shaha their little sexcapades could they not do it on the tax payer dime?

And finally, if Wolfie is, and he clearly is, guilty of sleeping with a subordinate, lying about it, covering it up, and giving her huge amounts of money that is not his - then should he not be punished? Clinton did all the same, except unlike Wolfie he does not need to pay people to sleep with him, and he nearly got impeached. It seems only fitting that Mr. Wolfowitz should have to suffer the same.

Just in terms of full disclosure, I almost felt sort of bad writing this, because I just finished reading the article on Wolfowitz in the New Yorker and he really doesn't seem that bad...

Understanding the NFL Draft

So I have played fantasy football, so I do have some vague sense of how the draft is supposed to work. That being said, I am totally baffled by this year's draft. Why so many defensive ends, defensive tackles, and offensive tackles in the first round? And why oh why, did the stupid Lions draft another friggin' wide receiver? I mean you need a couple of them, and I guess they are all about the spread offense. But a wideout is totally useless if there is not someone to get the ball in their hands. Hello - QB much?

Apparently, sensing my paranoia yesterday, the Lions did draft Drew Stanton. Now I love the idea of a hometown boy being a starting quarterback, but eh... I still see chokesville in his future. Detroit seems to lack good coaches and good supporting players, but it can't be any worse that what was going on in East Lansing.

While I want to be excited for the Lions, I have decided not to hold my breath. I remember what happened with Joey Harrington... oh the pain...

The Bettys of the World and Other Thoughts

Is it possible for Bettys to Win?
After watching 'Clueless', I though a Betty was supposed to be a babe who got everything she wanted. Cher does point to her mother and call her a "total Betty". So you would think it is a good thing, but...

• Remember Betty? Cheerleader, honor student, blonde hair, great body (well for a cartoon character)? She was the All-American girl. Too bad she was always second best in Archie's eyes. Always second best to rich, snobby, pert-nosed Veronica. Instead of being the girlfriend, she was the girl friend. Archie's best friend, emotional crutch, and substitute date... and quite frankly she was second best in my mind. I always wanted to be Veronica. Betty while pretty and smart was boring, and she didn't get the boy.


• Apparently, things haven't changed that much because America's new, everywoman, (Ugly) Betty, can't seem to catch a break either. Her sister mocks her. Her crush has a girlfriend he won't dump. Her boss expects her to clean up all his messes. Her co-workers have a seemingly endless set of insulting nicknames they throw at her. To top it off, she isn't even as hot as cartoon-Betty. Not to mention Amanda ends up with all the best lines.

Early Onset Alzheimer's?
Alzheimer's is a neurodegenerative disease that's most well known symptom is memory deterioration. It typically occurs in the elderly, you have to be at least 65 or so. Imagine my surprise when Alberto Gonzales, apparently manifested a complete and utter loss of short term memory. So my question is this - if the man cannot remember, recall, or recollect major incidents that occurred over the last six months and is clearly suffering from dementia, should he really be AG? According to Bush - YES! Apparently memory deterioration is something that gives Bush confidence in his appointees... dear Lord! Maybe he should hire the Jokers from Arkham Asylum.

Random Aside
I watched Bill Moyer's "Buying the War" show on-line. It was nothing new, but it did irritate me beyond belief!

• Was no one home at The Times or The Post? Maybe they were just out to lunch? A really long multi-year lunch? Apparently, the only people who really tried to report the news and inconsistencies on the evidence leading up to the Iraq War were the journalists at Knight-Ridder, who didn't even have a fair chance, since their papers don't release do major markets.


• Did Big Media basically black out anti-war journalists? It has been awhile since Hearst used his media empire to foment the Spanish-American War. But since then, American journalists were supposed to be about truth - Watergate (though Woodward turned out to be all sorts of louse recently), Edward R. Murrow. But it seems that things have changed. Looks like MSNBC could not take the heat of old Phil Donahue poking holes in the case of the president and fired him.


• Goddamn Judith Miller. She is everything a journalist should not be. She was Cheney's little lapdog. She makes me want to puke. She makes me want to discontinue my subscription to the New York Times. But then where would I go. Fox News? Hells no.


• Incidentally, the show made me miss Dan Rather. I don't mind Charles Gibson, but I did grow up watching Dan give the news.

In the Last Couple Days

I feel like I have been blogging non-stop, but somehow the moment I stop, all kinds of craziness happen...

Celebrities in the News

• Hugh Grant dumped baked beans on paparazzi? Now anyone who has watched 'Bend It Like Beckham' has got to know that baked beans can do real damage and leave real scars!


• Alec Baldwin called his daughter a "pig", seems a bit odd. But then my own father called me a "turkey" a few times. Whatever that means. I don't think I am too emotionally scarred though.


• Richard Gere, I mean honestly if you are gonna pull an Adrian Brody on an Indian actress, at least go for a hotter one. Shilpa Shetty is like leftovers. The American version of, I don't know, maybe Meg Ryan... so like ten years ago.

Politics

I caught up on the Democratic debates on-line. Here were my takeaways.

• No one will straight up answer a question. I mean Hillary and Edwards dodged the hedge fund question like there was no tomorrow. Wonder if it has something to do with donor dollars, Chelsea's job, and Johnny boy's advisory board position. The only people who had the balls to answer questions were Gravel and Kucinich, the two crazies, who don't have a chance in hell of winning. Even Richardson, who I actually had some hope for, turned the gun control question into a question about treating mental illness. No wonder he is the NRA's favorite candidate.


• Apparently, John Edwards' daddy was a poor textile mill worker... blah... blah... blah. Isn't this the same story we have hear for the past four years? At least, he doesn't flip-flop on his family history. The sad thing is he appears to be the only Dem with a real chance of winning.


• Mike Gravel is crazy! In fact, I was not sure if I should laugh or well laugh during his pontifications (e.g., rants). Personally, I wish the guy had received a little more air time because quite simply he added some levity to a very scripted debate.


• Obama seems like less of a rock star than he did four years ago... I think he has finally become a real politician. He plays dodge ball like a pro!

Television and Books

• The Grey's spin-off sounds utterly wretched. How many prime time hospital soaps can TV stand? And how many outlandish diseases can they think of to keep these shows going?


• I am getting somewhat curious about the next Harry Potter book, which I find odd, since I am not even a super huge fan of the book. I wonder if Harry will kill Voldemort, or if it will be Neville, or maybe it will be Harry and Neville together. I really hope Hermione doesn't end up with Ron. I am just not that into guys with red hair. And image their children, yikes... freckled red heads with bushy hair and buck teeth. God forbid! Do you think Snape is bad? If he isn't bad, does that mean Draco could be good? Oh the confusion, and it all has to be resolved in several hundred pages, is it even possible?


• My old babysitter had a front page article in the Globe today. I feel like I should link to it!

The Five Point Campaign

So apparently, Obama announced his five point campaign a few days ago...

1. The first way America will lead is by bringing a responsible end to this war in Iraq and refocusing on the critical challenges in the broader region.


2. The second way America will lead again is by building the first truly 21st century military and showing wisdom in how we deploy it.


3. The third way America must lead again is by marshalling a global effort to meet a threat that rises above all others in urgency – securing, destroying, and stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction.


4. That’s why the fourth way America must lead is to rebuild and construct the alliances and partnerships necessary to meet common challenges and confront common threats.


5. The fifth way America will lead again is to invest in our common humanity – to ensure that those who live in fear and want today can live with dignity and opportunity tomorrow.

I think this is a five point plan everyone can agree with, well maybe with the exception of the hawkiest of the hawks, and that is precisely the problem. There are no details here. And I am really very curious to know what Obama means with position point #1. What in his mind is a "responsible end to this war in Iraq"? Leaving? Hmm... I was taught responsibility is to acknowledge the results of the decisions I made and clean up the mess.

I could quibble with other points, but that would be petty and not really worth it. But I do think his choice of words in point #1 is intriguing.

On the Distribution of Wealth

There is an article in the New York Times today about how much money Hedge Fund Managers made last year. The top three hedge fund managers take home pay totals to the tune of $5+ billion. (I am trying to figure out how many Tiffany's engagement rings that equals, but I am getting confused by all the zeros!) In any case, the top 25 hedge fund managers earned about $14 billion this past year. That's enough to pay the 80,000 teachers in the New York City public school system for three years. It is also kind of sick.

I am all for people who can figure out how to create wealth. I mean I certainly hope to. But one person making $1.7 billion seems a bit odd. Especially since he does not really "do" anything. I wonder what he tells his children (if he has any that is). He is basically trading pieces of paper using a souped up excel model. It's like the Garbage Pail Kids collection I used to have. In fact, I would suppose that a lot of these hedge fund managers do more damage than good when they play in the public markets. Many of them with a focus on short-term earnings force companies to make decision while beneficial in the short-term, hurt the companies long-term prospects. It's kind of like how the US government refuses to balance the budget, great for now because they can have all these special pork barrel programs everyone loves, but crappy for people in the future who have to deal with the mess.

Anyway, this rant has a little more winding to go through. But today was the last day of one of my finance classes, and I was surprised that the professor quoted from the New York Times article mentioned above. He said people need to think about wealth creation and wealth distribution and not either in isolation which is what the Republicans and Democrats, respectively, tend to do. He also said that anyone who can justify CEO pay in America today clearly has yet learn "common sense". Now if this is true, and I for one do believe most CEOs are overpaid, what does this say about money managers and private equity sorts who do not manage people and who do not "create" anything.

Finally, on a somewhat related note, another group of "financiers" who have often troubled me are so-called "turnaround artists". These are guys like W.R. Ross. Ross is probably best know for the International Steel Group roll-up he created, and sold a few years ago to Mittal Steel, turning a neat $250 million profit for himself. Some might call this a success, but what about all the people who were laid off? who had their benefits cut? Clearly, there was value to go around as evidenced by the considerable sum Ross & Co. managed to tuck away as they steam rolled through the MidWest. According to my professor, every ecosystem needs a vulture. And I guess for the steel industry it was Ross. Perhaps it is with this same lens that one needs to view hedge funds? If you show any sign of weakness, if there is any blood, they will come after you. After all, I guess everyone needs lunch?

Polar Bears

I am watching my polar bear cam right now. I like polar bears. They are cute. It is sad that the government refuses to accept global warming is a reality. The melting of the polar ice caps may not result in the flooding of Manhattan as depicted in Al Gore's movie 'An Inconvenient Truth', but it will certainly be problematic for polar bears. They aren't the world's most fabulous swimmers. They are dependant on the ice as a platform for hunting seals.

How can you not want to protect polar bears?

Thinking About Iraq

If you have eyes and ears, it is hard to not think about Iraq. Here are some thoughts I have had over the past couple days...

• Yes, it is sad that 32 people died at Virginia Tech. But on a scale of relative "badness" what is worse? the isolated killing of 32 people in Virginia? or the daily death of at least 32 civilians in Iraq? I hesitate to apply a scale of moral relativity. However, if you look at the way the news was apportioned between Iraq and Virgina Tech over the past week, it would appear the press has. 32 American lives are worth more than 224 Iraqi lives.
  
• When will we learn pick and choose the strongmen we choose to topple. History has taught us bad things happen when heterogeneous populations lose their dictators. Half a million people died during the partition when the British Raj left India. We all know what happened when Tito was toppled in Yugoslavia. The trials are still running at the Hague. Thirty years after the departure of Belgians, Rwanda erupted in violence and genocide not seen since the 1940s. While the distrust and bad blood is rarely evident at the surface, it is always there. How we missed it is beyond me!


• Why is the world so unwilling to split Iraq up into three different countries? It's what happened with Yugoslavia, despite potential concerns of the Albanians and Greeks. So the Turks don't want Kurdistan, but they'll get over it. It's not like they are doing anything to help now. Can't we just be done with this?

Being Pro-Life

I consider myself to be a pro-life. I do not believe in capital punishment. I am by no means a fan of abortion. I believe in gun control and an automatic weapons ban, which could have prevented things like the tragic incident at Virginia Tech. I am against genocide and war and think we should have exercised more thought before going into Iraq and should try and intervene in Darfur. So it really irritates me that anti-abortion proponents, many of whom happen to be supporters of the the death penalty and the NRA, have co-opted the term pro-life.

While I am not a fan of abortion, I recognize that there are cases in which it may be necessary. My issues with the ban on "partial birth abortion" - other than the name, because it is certainly not a medical term - is that it is the first step in anti-abortionists' crusade against Roe v. Wade. It will be a sad day indeed, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, and women are forced to seek out the help of less than scrupulous "doctors".

The thing that gets me about the anti-abortion crowd is that they seem to be against the prevention of unwanted pregnancies. How often are they out there telling politicians that we don't need to teach kids just about abstinence but also about birth control? Are they leading the charge against pharmacists who refuse to fill birth control prescriptions? I am quite sure, anti-abortion supporters are at the front lines in preventing US international aid dollars going towards family planning. If indeed they feel the need to restrict a woman's ability to control her body and destiny, it is only fitting they do the same for men. Why not mandate vasectomy's by a certain age? I am sure the Thomas, ScAlito, Roberts, and Kennedy would have voted for that!

Anti-abortion proponents need to think for a moment and realize that no one wants abortions to be happen. In no world is it an ideal situation. At best it is a tragic solution to those in a desperate situation. Within my framework of beliefs being pro-choice is completely compatible with being pro-life!

Seeing Double...

I thought Al Gore had a lock on being the Democrat whose soapbox issue was the environment. But apparently John Kerry has jumped on the bandwagon as well with his new book. I guess it's something ex-Democratic nominees for president do? I really hope one of the Dem's wins the 2008 election because I am not sure how many new books on the environment, the environment can take!

Not Desperate Enough...

No one seems to watch Desperate Housewives with me anymore. At first I thought it was me. But now after finally watching this episode, I have come to the conclusion that it is the show. I don't even want to watch it with me anymore. Here's why...

• Susan. Are you as bored of her as I am? Why didn't she just drown? Susan, Ian, and Mike. The drab three. I literally yawn when any of them are on camera. I mean we already know Susan is going to dump Ian's ass, take his money, and go back to Mike. Might as well fast forward to the next act.
• Edie and Carlos. No. Yuck! Although Carlos did always want a kid. Must delete.
• The Scavos are being destroyed! Lynette would not cheat, certainly not when Tom is literally flat on his back, and not with an ex-coke snorter. She can do better than that. The Scavos are the dysfunctional, love-hate, suburbia couple I aspire to be. You can't destroy them now. You already almost did that with Tom's demon spawn earlier.
• I am not sure Gabby has done anything useful since she convinced little wannabe models to turn bulimic. Her holier than thou stunt with the mayoral candidate was more juvenile than Season 1 Gabby. And his ultimately successful attempts to get her back were pathetic. I mean come on man! She stole you ex-wife's couture. Gold digging slut vs. power player politician. I would go for the latter, but then that's just me.
• I miss Bree! I miss her stepford wife-ish Breeisms. The way she can give you the verbal ass kicking of your life all without breaking a sweat or showing a frown line. I guess while Bree's daughter is having Austin's illegitimate child in Florida or whatever, Marcia Cross had her twins. Sadness. Bree/Marcia... come back before I give up on this show forever.

This show needs some major changes, starting with a real villain. I thought Orson would be it, but then they redeemed him. And now he is apparently just like his SATC alter ego, except he can get it up. Oh, and while you are finding a new villain Cherry&Co, it might be a good idea to dig up a real plot. The will she or won't she with Susan is getting really old, really fast.

Reconsidering, Perhaps...

Watching '24' today, I had an epiphany of sorts. If a TV show on FOX can have two black presidents across it's six seasons on air, perhaps America is ready for a real life black president. Although, I gotta say, these guys seem to have had rather tumultuous terms. The first president was killed by homegrown terrorists, and the second suffered an attempted assassination by individuals within his own administration. I guess that's tough love? Barack - you sure you want in?

Who the heck is Ron Paul? I had never heard of him before. But he was on Bill Maher a few weeks ago and that is how I found out he was running for president. The guy is apparently a Republican from Texas and a hardcore libertarian, talk about an endangered species. I can't think of a Republican lately who advocated a smaller government. Bush, himself, expanded the federal government with the Department of Homeland Security and the Czars of Wiretapping and Torture.

But anyway back to Ron Paul. I am not sure I am with him on global warming denial, but I am with him on ending subsidies to Big Oil and ending wars over oil! I also like his skepticism of the CIA. He is probably right that the CIA's involvement in the "selection" or "deselection" of developing world leaders have fomented terrorist activities against us.

His most interesting comments were on the Civil War. He does not think the Civil War was necessary. Britain and other nations were able to end slavery without an all out war. I am not sure if the Civil War could have been averted, and I do wonder if he truly believes it could have been. But anyone who has taken AP US History knows that the Civil War was not about slavery, it was about states rights and the business interests of the North. Abraham Lincoln was no real friend of the slaves either. If he was, the Emancipation Proclamation would have been signed much earlier, not two years into the war, and not without a constitutional amendment prohibiting slavery.

Again, I have no real intention of voting for the guy. But he is a former doctor, and while some of his ideas are really kind of out there, he does strike me as a "thinking" individual. And while it does not take much to beat our current president, it is still something to find a Republican who does not always toe the party line. A new maverick?

The Iraq Conversation Extended and Continued

I have a hard time respecting the policy decisions of Democrats who call for a complete exit of US forces from Iraq. Sure you can pull an Obama... I never would have voted for the war or this war was launched with false evidence and the likes. But that does not change the fact that we are in war of our own making. We waged war on Iraq with essentially no provocation, and now we want to up and leave? It just seems wrong.

In the aftermath of World War II, when Europe was laid waste, we did not leave. We stayed. We gave them a Marshall plan. We rebuilt Japan. Why are the Democrats, historically the less isolationist of the two parties, so against fixing the mess we made? Or at lease trying to make amends? I am a firm believe that what goes around, comes around. And if that is true, something is going to bite us in the ass real soon.

Still my feelings on the positions of Obama and Edwards aside, John McCain's comments today were neither constructive nor well advised. It seems that the nonpartisan McCain of 2000 is forever gone, in his stead we have mini-Bush who can only pander to his "base" (and I use the term base loosely because it is unclear if he can truly convert the hardcore conservatives). After describing the Democrats as happy after passing legislation setting a timetable for with drawl from Iraq, he proceeded to say,

"What were they celebrating?Defeat? Surrender? In Iraq, only our enemies were cheering.”

You would think McCain would be suitably chastened after his "I'm a fuckwit" statement on security in Iraq earlier this week. Apparently not! If he's lucky, and I mean lucky, he may be able to secure his party's nomination. But as they say, it'll be a cold day in hell before he wins a general election... which reminds me, where does he stand on global warming?

Black and White: Why are men stupid?

I stayed in a newspaper free zone for the majority of the weekend, so Monday I was pretty surprised to hear about the Don Imus uproar. Sure it was a stupid and unkind thing to say, I am not sure what is funny about calling articulate women "nappy headed hos", but is it really that surprising that a radio shock jock said something stupid? Plenty of people have made very unfortunate and inappropriate comments before, among them old, white men like Rush Limbaugh and Trent Lott.

People have every right to call for Don Imus' resignation, but I cannot help but wonder if those spearheading these calls have their own agenda to further. Rev. Al Sharpton has made plenty of hurtful comments in the past, not to mention that during the drama of Tawana Brawley, he actually managed to tar and feather a man, for which to this day, he still claims no responsibility. And then there is Jesse Jackson, who has had his own missteps, particularly with regards to slurring Jews.

Now their own transgressions might not even matter if they applied standards more uniformly. Don Imus deserves to be chastised for his racist remarks, but do rappers deserve to be chastised for their misogynist remarks? Or what about ministers, many of them African-American, who consistently preach rather hateful messages directed towards the gays and lesbians?

Personally I think, this might be a good time for everyone from media personalities and musicians to politicians and the general public to exercise a little introspection.

Catching Myself Up

Is it just me or are you too getting bored of this never ending game of chicken between President Bush and the Democratic Congress? So I get that Bush doesn't take ultimatums well, wonder if there is some history there between him and Pappy Bush, but threatening to veto a bill to fund our troops seems ludicrous and more than a little petty. The repeated need to prove that he is the boss is getting old. Seriously, if I didn't know better I would guess he has all the insecurities of a short, pudgy, and balding middle age man. Still as much as I may despise GWB, he is not alone in this. The Democrats need to avoid squandering whatever advantage they have gained in these past elections by not turning into the Newt Gingrich congress of the late-90s. The rhetoric between the president and Congress is reminiscent of the Gingrich led government shutdown, only with much higher stakes. So instead of letting John Edwards and Barack Obama rant on about an immediate and complete withdrawal, Democrats should tone it down and develop a realistic solution that doesn't involve a massive showdown between the executive and legislative branches.

Apparently it is possible to swiftboat your way into an appointed office. Just ask Sam Fox. $50,000 worth of anti-Kerry swiftboating ads got him Belgium. Go Bush and the recess appointment. I wonder if I make a $1000 contribution to One More Term for Bush if he'll let me have the Congo... it's GDP is 1/20th of Belgium...

Some still believe the third time is a charm. Kirk Kerkorian first tried to take over Chrysler almost a decade ago in a buyout partnership with Lee Iacocca. When that failed he sold his shares. Then he bought a stake in General Motors, only to sell it, when his dream of created an automotive behemoth (e.g., the merge of Nissan, Renault, and GM) did not come to fruition. Gee, like that's a surprise. And now Tracinda is back at it again, looking to buyout Chrysler from its German parents for a mere $4.5bn. Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the auto industry is troubled, but $4.5bn does seem absurdly low. The fact that Kerkorian was willing to offer over $20bn just 12 years ago only proves that he is low-balling DaimlerChrysler. That is $1.3bn on value disappearing on an annualized basis. It would be interesting to assess Chrysler's liquidation value, I would not be surprised if it hovered around the $5bn range.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder?

I have been away from my blog for weeks, but no one seems to have missed me. How tragic is that? Well I blog for me, not for all the nameless, faceless people out there.

So here after my weeks away is my new, I'm dying to vent about list...

Sanjaya Malakar - Who is this rando and how did he get a spot on Idol? It's killing me! Is he even Indian? At worst (because he is giving us such a bad name), he can only be half Indian. I swear when I heard him try to channel Diana Ross with the hair and the music, I about died. Some people can sing and some people can't. But apparently, there is this new category of people who sound like strangled geese when they sing... Sanjaya that is where you belong, now it is up to the tweeners to realize that!

John McCain - Yes, the markets in Baghdad are safe when you are in bullet proof vests accompanied by a platoon of soldiers who have cleared the market for yeah. Puhleeze. McCain better get a grip on reality if he hopes to win this election. I think that cancerous lesion on his face may have spread to his brain.

Florida - Yuck! They foiled the Buckeyes again. As a Big Ten fan, I find it tragic. I think I may have a new hated school to put right up there with UMich, Chapel Hill, USC, and Duke.

Barack Obama - I just can't stand him. I am not sure why. There is something about the way he talks. He just seems to self-righteous and patronizing.